Honoring Our Volunteers of 2015!
Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers! It really takes a village to train and prepare Pawsitivity dogs for the important work they will do. We are very grateful for everyone who has volunteered, donated, or helped us in any way. In this newsletter, we're giving a special shout-out to the volunteers who have worked with Pawsitivity this year (so far!). If you're interested in helping, too, please let us know!
Say Congrats to Our Top 2015 Volunteers!Brenda Knapp-Polzin donates monthly through her work, and here she is meeting Syd, one of the dogs assisted by her donations. Candy and Steve Aliano gave Pawsitivity a very special gift this spring, donating all the way from New Port Richey in Florida!
Cheers to Pawsitivity's New Board of Directors!Dave Mackmiller (Treasurer), Tom Coleman (pictured, but not on the board), Julie Coleman (Training Director and board member), Dr. Michelle Parkinson (Vice President), Dr. Todd Savage (Secretary), and Dr. Kris Butler (Chair)!. We are very grateful for this amazing team!
Top Fundraisers!Thank you to Clarice Chikazawa and Frank Tschudyida for throwing a Pawsitivity fundraising party! They've also introduced us to the wonderful teams at Herzing University in Minneapolis, MN, who are studying to change lives through health care!
Dr. Kim Halvorson of Metro State University donates her time and experience by proofreading all the medical information on Pawsitivity's website!
Dr. Jen Seidl and Grand Avenue Veterinary Center cheerfully donate all spaying, neutering, and checkups for Pawsitivity Dogs! We're so thankful for all the assistance and great care they provide.
Herzing University in Minneapolis, MN invited Pawsitivity to visit a class of Occupational Therapy Assistant students. Here they are pictured with service-dog-in-training, Lena. The Dental Assisting and Dental Hygiene departments at Herzing will be throwing a fundraising party for Pawsitivity later this year!
The Susan Janda and David Milne family threw a fundraiser for Pawsitivity last year, and they are helping to socialize the current dogs in training!
Annie and Sarah Westawker have been helping with Pawsitivity dogs from the beginning. They socialize and walk the service-dogs-in-training, which is especially helpful because they're the same age as many recipients.
The Woodbury Junior Girl Scouts threw a fundraiser for Pawsitivity in May! Syd was a special guest at the party and she had a wonderful time. Thank you to all the Junior Girl Scouts and your families for all your time, effort, and wonderful generosity!Thank you again to everyone who volunteers, donates, spreads the word about Pawsitivity, or helps us in any way. We really appreciate it!Warmly,Tom & Julie Coleman
Tom Coleman, Executive Director
Pawsitivity Service Dogs
http://www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com Facebook Instagram Twitter
197 Griggs St. N., St Paul, MN, 55104
651-321-DOGS
EIN 47-1446634
Rated "Gold" Charity by Guidestar Exchange
Awarded "Top-Rated Nonprofit" Seal by GreatNonprofits
Winner, Humane Charity Seal of Approval
Rover.com article on Autism Service Dogs
Wow, Rover.com just wrote a really great article about the work of Autism Service Dogs!
Wonderful lawyer!
The amazing John D. Docken, Vice President and Corporate Counsel, in Fargo, ND, did a fantastic job looking over some of our paperwork. Thank you!!!!!
Jr. Girl Scout fundraiser on the radio!
Woodbury, Minnesota's Girl Scout Jr. troop was on the radio on myTalk 107.1 - Minneapolis/St. Paul talking about how they selected Pawsitivity Service Dogs as their favorite Minnesota charity, and how they threw a fundraiser for their Bronze Award and raised $700 to help service dogs and children with autism and other disabilities! Go Jr. Girl Scouts!!!
Update to Hoffman Weber's donation of doghouse to boy with autism
The wonderful Hoffman Weber construction company (in the Minneapolis, MN area) has donated a custom doghouse to Bailey and his boy, and they wrote a great blogpost about it! In the pictures below, Bailey is the Golden Retriever (the other dog in the top-right picture was visiting from Secondhand Hounds, a charity that Hoffman Weber is also building a dog house for, too...so cool!)
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Donate your car for charity
We've just set up a new page: If you want to donate your car to a charity in Minnesota, please call 651-321-3647 to donate it to Pawsitivity Service Dogs in St. Paul, MN!
If you are looking to trade in your station wagon, SUV, or truck for a new car (or even a used one) and you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, while you don't get very much for your trade-in, but you can donate it to a charity. With this solution, not not only get the great feeling of helping with the mission of saving dogs and training them as service dogs for children, you get to write off the vehicle on your taxes. So, you basically get a third back from your donation (because you take it off of your income), and this tax-deductible donation can be a great way of giving back to the community. We all feel like we want to help make the world a better place, and since most of us don't really want to go through the hassle of selling your old car, donating the vehicle to charity can be a great way of helping out in a direct and positive way. Pawsitivity Service Dogs only has a sedan right now, which really doesn't suit the needs of the families we work with, as most of them have some sort of minivan, SUV, or station wagon for their families, and the dogs should really be trained to work with these kinds of vehicles. It's quite a high jump to get into these taller cars, and training with our sedan doesn't really do it. Plus, our sedan has so many miles on it that going cross-country to adopt a dog isn't really practicable. But your truck, SUV, or station wagon doesn't have to be low miles, it just has to be somewhat reliable...and you'll get the full Private Party Blue Book value to write off on your taxes! It will help if you live in Minnesota, but if you live in Wisconsin or a neighboring state and wish to drive your donated car to us, we're in St. Paul, MN, and you can always just drive it here, if you wish. If you do live in Minnesota, we can even come and pick up the car, if you want. Call us today at 651-321-3647 to donate your car to charity.
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Recommendation from Can Do Canines Executive Director to join ADI
Thank you, Al Peters, Executive Director of Can Do Canines, for writing a letter of recommendation for Pawsitivity's application to Assistance Dogs International!
5/5/16: Candidate status approved!
Bailey wins a dog house from Hoffman Weber Construction & Sidewalk Dog!
Thank you to everyone who voted! Bailey, an autism service dog that Pawsitivity trained a few years ago, has, thanks to your votes, won an awesome custom dog house! The dog house will be built by Hoffman Weber Construction, and the contest was held by Sidewalk Dog (the best local resource for finding out where to take your dog!)
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Olaf the certified therapy dog is making a difference!
Mary Ostmoe, a special education teacher at Salk Middle School in Elk River, MN, gave a presentation to to a meeting of the School Board, and along with her family and student Nathan Hawk, she got to tell the Board how Olaf, a certified Pawsitivity therapy dog, is making a huge difference at school!
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